Phillies Get Halladay; Lackey, BoSox Near Deal

Baseball’s hot stove was boiling mightily today, with the Philadelphia Phillies making the biggest news, reaching a deal to land Toronto right-hander Roy Halladay. That move could be part of a three-team trade, Jayson Stark hears, with Philadelphia sending left-hander Cliff Lee to Seattle. Toronto and Seattle would receive mainly prospects, though the AP reports that big-league pitchers JA Happ and Joe Blanton are on the table.

On the free-agent market, the Boston Red Sox are just a physical exam away from adding right-hander John Lackey, late of the Angels, to their rotation, with Sports Illustrated reporting a 5-year contract worth upward of $80 million. The Angels, for their part, lured designated hitter/outfielder Hideki Matsui west after 7 years in New York, with the Yankees’ World Series MVP agreeing to a 1-year deal, the Times writes.
(More Major League Baseball stories.)